''Breath of Life'' is the 12th studio album by English rock band Magnum. It was released in 2002 by SPV. ''Breath of Life'' is Magnum's comeback album after a break of more than six years. The album marks the return of

Bob Catley Robert Adrian Catley is an English singer and musician, best known by his stage name as Bob Catley. He is the lead singer of the British rock band Magnum. He is also a solo artist. Biography Early years (1947–1972) Born in Aldershot on ...

(vocalist),

Tony Clarkin Tony Clarkin (born Anthony Michael Clarkin, 24 November 1946) is an English musician and record producer, best known as the guitarist of the rock band Magnum. He has been the sole songwriter throughout Magnum's history, writing all of the ma ...

(guitarist) and

Mark Stanway Mark Stanway (born 27 July 1954) is an English musician. He was the keyboard player for the prog rock band Magnum from 1980 until the end of 2016. Career Stanway first appeared with Magnum on the 1980 recording of ''Chase the Dragon'' (rel ...

(keyboards). Clarkin produced the album during summer 2001 at the Mad Hat Studios in

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunians ...

. Clarkin says, "The break since the middle of the Nineties was definitely necessary for me. Since the end of the Seventies, in fact since we embarked on the preparations for our debut recording '' Kingdom of Madness'', not a single month had gone by in which I didn't work for Magnum, composed for the group, or at least thought of them permanently. For almost twenty years, all my thoughts had revolved around the band. I needed a break to clear my head and to be able to devote myself to the band again with renewed energy." –

, 2002. During his sabbatical, Clarkin worked as a producer, wrote songs for other artists and brought out two albums with Hard Rain together with

. Both "Still" and "Dream About You" were demoed by Clarkin and

Sue McCloskey Suzie "Sue" McCloskey, better known as Zenda Jacks, is an English singer. She is best known for being one of the members of the Silver Convention and Hard Rain group. She has also worked with artists such as Tina Turner and Ella Fitzgerald. Ca ...

. Bob Catley has stated that ''Breath of Life'' presented a mix between the styles of Magnum and Hard Rain. The album was originally intended to be a double CD release containing a free CD of old Magnum material. However, SPV reduced the package to a limited edition version including three additional tracks on a single CD to lower costs. The double CD was released in Japan.Magnum , Interview , Lords of Metal metal E-zine – Issue 14: March 2002
/ref> All of the drum parts on the album are drum samples or were played by Tony Clarkin.

Track listing

Additional Japanese sleeve notes

"The only information I can give you on these tracks is that every tour we recorded each night straight onto DAT at the desk so we could check later on the bus how we played and which song went down the best or died whatever the case maybe. We soon abandoned this idea because it drove us nuts but the sound engineer continued to record every show but without stating when or where we were at the time. I think he went nuts as well. "'We All Need To Be Loved' was an acoustic session for the radio and 'Born To Be King', 'It Must Have Been Love' and 'Only A Memory' on these live versions are different to how we did them on the final albums. "To leave you with one thought at the end of a tour we could have sixty or seventy DATs to listen to, we never did, so now it's up to you."Clarkin, Tony (2002). Breath of Life – Sleeve Notes. In ''Breath of Life apanese Edition' (pp. 18) D liner notes Japan: Nippon Crown Co. Ltd. – Tony Clarkin, 2002

Personnel

– guitar, drums *

– vocals *

Al Barrow Al Barrow (born 1968, in Wolverhampton, England) is an English bassist best known as the former member of the hard rock band Magnum. Barrow joined Magnum in 2001 after he was a member of Hard Rain, a group formed by Magnum members, Bob Catl ...

– bass guitar *

– keyboards Additional musicians * Wally Lowe – bass guitar (on disc 2) * Mickey Barker – drums (on disc 2)

References

External links

www.magnumonline.co.uk
– Official Magnum site {{DEFAULTSORT:Breath Of Life (Album) 2002 albums Magnum (band) albums Albums produced by Tony Clarkin SPV/Steamhammer albums